Aquarium cleaning device



March 23, 1954 Q HUTCHINSQN 2,672,987

' AQUARIUM CLEANING DEVICE Filed June 19, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l CL V05 5'. HUTCH/NSON, INVENTOR.

ATTORNEK March 23, 1954 C. E. HUTC HINSON AQUARIUM CLEANING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 19, 1950 ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 23, 1954 2,672,987: U R Q ANINohEvmn- Clyde E". Hutchinson;;-enice; i 9313;; :2 *1 Ap l cation rune ia, 1950,;.Srial 169.05 1: HY GIaimsi (Gleam-mow y invention relates. 1293a. cl anin q viqe. .159 thelinteriors'nof vessels. holding lli quidsjafor' om;- eedperioolsi and is parti ularly: desienedu o keeping, the .water aquar umeandthe .b.ottom thereofl in' oleaniconditioni 7 Small; lass .walledgaquarimnsuin which ornae mentalesneoies of fishnqf m n ature size. are kept areflm wide.useiforl their; d cora ve ,value and thepropercareor:sueh@fishrneoessitates.their r quent c1eaI1 'ng-;Q;f the water and, bottom of the aquarium to 'remove fragments; \of iwfishwiood, pla ts..andother.detritushfism pa ti eswhich aeeumulateshn the bottom of. the aqu rium and WouldlIouLthematenif alloygedito.remainjoriany I .considerabletoeriod oiitimem.

Ana .obiecteof imy oi vention; is to @nrovide (a manually opemble. deviceihyi h ohwater, .oI- th aquarium in whiohldetritusiof any icharaeterrhas aceumulatedimaxhesuckediinto the devioaond I discharged back into the; aquarium; through nemeansuefi ctire to rem ve thetnartiolos f detritusfrom the-returned waten Another object of my imentioneistovprovi e a coarseamesh filter! inqa devic eof athozkind d SOIEibEGWSWhiOHLI S efieetivere-to preyenentheaentry into the devieeeofimrticlesilargeqonough 15 terfere. withathe moper xunetioningrof;me ge- V169;

a A untherrobieet-ontm invention is to pro ide a elean-ingiclevioeierithe kindedescrihediin which finev filter 'meanvshiareg provided whichmay aloe readily; removed iirom-the =cierice, fQrs,c1eanin&ml: DOSES; P

vAistiiifurtlimuobieateritheninwit o riisto pm vide a cleaning oevieeuhavingi, vahieeomrafire to ensure one way flow :offiui'd thro ehithendvice, the valves b ing yer s mn1ein-arraneement andvery easy of installation. v

Anotherobject of'my .invention'is to ,provide finefiltering means "for a cleanin'gflevice of the; kind described; which filtering means-- may be supported on a; Wet-11" ofthe--aquarium and m'ay' be readily attached; Whenrequired for user-t0 the -'c1eaning":deviee. v

Yet another 'object of mytinventioni is to pro: videoanz Pimproved-i finez-filterr uniteforouse withgia. cleaningrdeviee :ofzthe kindisdescribemgithe filten unitabeingmrouideda with; aznad ofamaterialersuohi as ifelted; glassefibers;memorablyearrane drih h 5119111: to lenableviiheic pad @1 0 be areadilyaoleauedi when required X r .still-firmerfobieetslandlfeatureeof my inve tion will here na terra pear from a etudsz rofnth i following .si scriotion. the accompanying drawings, in which:

readhzi coniumition with;

Figure 1 is a general view of theaquarium a n ,dev oe invent on, w t p rts sho nfl ction;

ure isat fra mentary lo gitud n l. ros s ct onith ouehi va vezet io u e; shown a t y i section h F gure .1, h fieqrei ie dra n'o a larger sca1e;' l

3 is a. ossee ion. li e. 111 63- of Figur ziir,

i ur -A; i rom: e evationpor a modified o m' or stra ner. .forgthe; water. s ck d "up from he tank. lanai disohareed. thereinto; by the ,.,ole- VICGI,

Figure o. is ainlangyi,eml of the strainer shown in ilieureeia idii v Figure, ,s'v' is "a eection takeni .alone line 6 -,6 .of Fieurefii The .iclean'ing .qevioegpof' the ,present L invention, referriugflnow .to Figure ,4, .roomprises a bulb, o resilienthrubberl,nroyiqingacollapsible chamber, the bulb ibein' alternately manually squeezed ,to reduce the volume of "the chamloerrrandallowed to re ainitsoriginaL-vommedue, to theresiliency Of the lllb' onv Wail-1, Joulb. 71.0 is formed with ,two openirigs theldefifiing edge 0f each; bein engaged in yga'lvia lioueingi land tube-"connector meansijj, 'andjlZQ A The .yalve houeings are =preferly den i al-fin eform,iwo eco pr g. a ri d odyim m ernoit bular fo m h v "i e oi i e heiends th reot'an; o w ly.-proiectm annular flan e li. r g r i flang 113 of each hous n is provided: withagrqqvei misufiiciently deepand of;a,oQ .fi 1 Zation.-to. form a. substantially liquid a semh ias w e T ee olice sh-newer t1.- seat 18, the outer p a etane edetoifitth a heibore iof-ithe/v us n fl h uteru iamee nd-Who seams ass. on thatiortheg w-ider-ge d ofthe tanered b retend-emailin-ithanv he o t ernar owen end of theata erod ;hore.,- so ,-.that a.. seat maymbevsecu velyriemmed n--position inz h apered Portion oit hone eachvalvehousina It sqtohfe notedthatthevwiderend or the taper d. portion orthe bore ofthe valve housing I2 is 3 directed toward the inside of the bulb. The wider end of the tapered portion of the bore of the valve housing H, on the other hand, is directed away from the bulb Ill.

The non-return valves are formed of discs IQ of thin resilient material, such as a suitable plastic provided, in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, at one point with a radially projecting tab 2!! which is secured in any suitable way to the wide face of the seat l8, as shown in Figure 3, as for instance by a suitable bonding material. The disc I9 is of slightly less diameter than the outer diameter of the seat so that, in response to flow in one direction, it may defiect upwardly from the tab 23, but yet will securely engage the seat to close the passage therethrough to prevent flow in the reverse direction. Due to the small back pressures in the operation of the device, I have found valves constructed and installed as described very satisfactory and longlasting.

A suction tube 2| is formed from a piece of tubing of preferably rigid material, such as a suitable plastic, and may be merely pressed into the cylindrical portion 22 of the bore of the valve housing l2 although, if preferred, other means could be used to mount the tube to the valve mount.

In order to prevent snails, small pebbles or relatively large pieces of debris, such as small dead fish, from being sucked into and perhaps jamming the suction valve, that is, the valve carried by the housing l2, or if drawn into the bulb Hi, from jamming the non-return valve of the housing II, I prefer to install a relatively coarse mesh filter 23 ahead of the suction valve. As shown in Figure 2, the filter 23 is preferably formed of a relatively large mesh wire screen 24 of cone shape, the base of which is secured to a ring 25 or flared outwardly to form an annular mounting member which is clamped between the end of the tube 2| and the shoulder i of the valve housing |2.

The delivery or return tube 26 is formed from a length of flexible tubing over the outwardly projecting portion of the valve housing The opposite end of the tube is fitted with fine filtering means which may comprise a strainer 21 of fine wire mesh, or a fabric, such as cotton cloth, formed as a small bag, the neck of which may be secured to the tube 26 by some clamping means, such as a length of string 28 or a tightly stretched rubber band. By untying the string or working the rubber band off the end of the tube 28, the strainer 2! may be removed, turned inside out and washed clean. The strainer may be, and usually is, left in the water of the aquarium while dirty water sucked into the bulb is discharged again into the water in the aquarium freed from the suspended dirt which is retained in the strainer 21.

The modified form of strainer unit shown in Figures 4, 5, and 6 is designed to be suspended on the wall of an aquarium and may be left in position when not in use, thus avoiding having to dry and store the fabric type of strainer and so may be preferred by some users.

The strainer unit 29 comprises a metal or plastic shell preferably semicircular in plan view as shown in Figure 5. The straight or back wall 30 may be provided with a pair of bent over clips 3| integral with, soldered, or otherwise secured to the back wall, and adapted to be supported on the wall 32 of an aquarium. The bottom edge of the back wall 30 and front wall 33 are, in the i1- telescopically fitted lustrated embodiment of the invention, inwardly turned to provide an inwardly projecting peripheral flange 34, but the bottom of the shell is open otherwise. At points 35, 36, and 31 spaced around the shell at a predetermined distance above the bottom edge thereof, outwardly directed depressions are formed of generally semispherical shape and of small radius for a purpose later explained.

A filter unit is cut closely in'the bottom of the shell of the strainer and, as shown in Figure 6, is formed of an integrated pad of felted fibers 38, preferably of glass fibers, stiffened by out out pieces of wire or plastic screen elements 39 and 4B, placed respectively above and below the filter pad, and supported by the flange 34. If desired, the shell can be formed with a perforated lower wall, in which case the lower screen element til can be eliminated.

The filtering unit is held firmly against the inwardly turned flange 36, or the perforated lower wall if the latter is used, by a length of stiff wire 46 forming a retainer. One end of the wire is positioned in recess 35, the first length 41 of the wire extending from the recess toward the center of the filter pad, a second length 53 then being looped at right angles toward the front of the shell, the tip 49 of the loop being located in the depression 33, and a third length 5|! of the wire thereafter being bent in line with the first length of wire and the end of the wire being located in the depression 3'8.

At the junction of the first and third lengths of wire with the looped second section, the wire is looped upwardly as shown at 4| and 42, the loops being bent away from one another. The filter pad assembly is kept firmly pressed against the peripheral bottom flange 34 while the wire retainer is engaged with the recesses in the filter shell walls, but by squeezing loops ll and 42 together, the ends of the wire may be freed from the recesses 35 and 31 and the retainer then withdrawn, after which the filter assembly may be removed for cleaning.

A length of tube 43 is secured to the wall of the strainer, and preferably at the jointure between the back and front walls. The upper end 44 projects sufficiently far above the strainer shell to enable the free end of the tube 23 to be pushed onto it. The lower end of the tube 43 is cut away on one side as shown at 45, and the uncut side is bent forward in order to spread the dirty water delivered by the tube 26 over the top of the filter pad. When the cleaning operation is finished, the tube 26 is merely pulled free from the tube 43, the filter pad washed and put back.

In using the device of my invention to clean an aquarium of the sizes in common use, the bulb |0 is merely held in one hand and intermittently squeezed and relaxed as the suction tube 2| is moved over the bottom and wherever detritus may be located; the users other hand being free if necessary to hold the tube 23 out of the way. As the bulb it is collapsed, the outrush of air tightly seats the valve of the housing |2 while the valve of the housing is forced open. When the bulb is allowed to expand, the air entering th bulb through the housing results in a closure of the valve thereof and consequently a partial vacuum is formed within the bulb. This vacuum, as should be obvious now, results in water being forced by atmospheric pressure up through the tube 2| and into the bulb. As the bulb is again collapsed, the suction .7 in addition comprising a tube secured to said shell and having its outlet end formed to direct liquid over the top of the pad of filtering material, the end of the return tube being adapted to interfit with the inlet end of the tube secured to the shell.

7. A cleaning device as set forth in claim 2 and in which the fine filtering means arranged at the outlet end of the return tube comprise: a shell having an open top and an apertured bottom; means for suspendin said shell on a wall of an aquarium so that filtered liquid will flow from the filter thereinto; a pad of felted glass fibers supported in said shell; means for removably retaining said pad in position in said shell; and means for detachably connecting the end of the return tube to the filter means.

8. A portable manually operated filtering and cleaning device for a filled aquarium comprising: a resilient walled bulb; an elongate suction tube of rigid material; means carried by one end of said bulb for removably connecting an end of said rigid tube thereto and communicating the tube with the interior of said bulb; said rigid tube adapted to be manually guided through the aquarium to move the free end of the tube over the floor of said aquarium; a flexible return tube having one end connected to said bulb at the end opposite the connection with said rigid tube and communicating with the interior of said bulb,

the free end of said return tube to be disposed so that water flowing therefrom is returned to said aquarium; valve means carried within said bulb adjacent the end of the rigid tube enabling water fiow from said tube into said bulb and preventing water flow from the bulb into said tube; valve means mounted adjacent the end of said flexible tube connected to said bulb enabling water flow from said bulb into said return tube and preventing water flow from said return tube into said bulb, whereby to circulate water expelled from said bulb through the flexible tube for return to said aquarium when the bulb is collapsed by external manual pressure, and drawn through the suction tube from the aquarium into the bulb when the bulb is free to return to its initial shape; a bag of fine mesh fabric; and means for removably securing said bag to the free end of said flexible return tube whereby foreign materials of the water are retained within the bag as the water drawn into the bulb and expelled from the latter into the flexible tube is returned to said aquarium.

9. A portable manually operated filtering and cleaning device for a filled aquarium comprising: a resilient walled bulb; an elongate suction tube of rigid material; means carried by one end of said bulb for removably connecting an end of said rigid tube thereto and communicating the tube with the interior of said bulb; said rigid tube adapted to be manually guided through the aquarium to move the free end of the tube over the floor of said aquarium; a flexible return tube having one end connected to said bulb at the end opposite the connection with said rigid tube thereby communicating said flexible tube with the interior of said bulb, the free end of said fiexible tube to be disposed so that water flowing therefrom is returned to said aquarium; valve means carried within said bulb adjacent the end of the rigid tube, said valve means being normally closed and operative to prevent water flow from the bulb into said tube; second valve means mounted adjacent the end of said flexible tube connected to said bulb, said second valve means iii 1 the fioor of said aquarium;

being normally closed and operative to prevent water flow from said return tube into said bulb both of said valve means being opened as the bulb is alternately collapsed and expanded whereby to circulate water expelled from said bulb through the flexible tube for return to said aquarium when the bulb is collapsed by external manual pressure and drawn through the suction tube from the aquarium into the bulb when the bulb is free to return to its initial shape; and a bag of fine mesh fabric removably secured to the free end of said flexible return tube for removing foreign materials from the water drawn into the bulb and expelled from the latter into the flexible tube for return to said aquarium.

10. A portable manually operated filtering and cleaning device for a filled aquarium comprising: a resilient walled bulb; an elongate suction tube of rigid material; means carried by one end of said bulb for removably connecting an end of said rigid tube thereto and communicating the tube with the interior of said bulb; said rigid tube adapted to be manually guided through the aquarium to move the free end of the tube over a flexible return tube having one end connected to said bulb at the end opposite the connection with said rigid tube and communicating with the interior of said bulb, the free end of said return tube to be disposed so that water flowing therefrom is returned to said aquarium; one way valve means carried within said bulb at opposite ends thereof for controlling the flow of water into and out of said bulb, one of said valve means enabling water flow from said rigid tube into said bulb and preventing Water flow from the bulb into said tube; the other of said valve means enabling water flow from said bulb into said flexible tube and preventing Water fiow from said flexible tube into said bulb, whereby to circulate water expelled from said bulb through the flexible tube for return to said aquarium when the bulb is collapsed by external manual pressure and drawn through the suction tube from the aquarium into the bulb when the bulb is free to return to its initial shape; a bag of fine mesh fabric; and releasable means for compressively securing the mouth of said bag around the free end of said fiexible tube whereby foreign materials held by said water forced into said flexible tube is entrapped in said bag prior to the return of the water to the aquarium, said releasable means permitting said bag to be removed from said flexible tube for ejecting foreign materials entrapped within said bag.

CLYDE E. HUTCHINSON.

References Cited in. the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

